


warming in the sun

by Dresupi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Athletes, Bittersweet, Established Relationship, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Long-Distance Relationship, Misunderstandings, Non-Explicit Sex, One Shot Collection, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Reunited and It Feels So Good, Secret Relationship, Shorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 10:32:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16911306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: A collection of Bretty short fics I've been prompted. Various ratings and subject matter.The first chapter is the table of contents.I will mark mature/explicit shorts with an *





	1. Table of Contents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [uconnhuskiesfan_wintershockship](https://archiveofourown.org/users/uconnhuskiesfan_wintershockship/gifts), [seekingsquake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekingsquake/gifts), [TallyDubh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TallyDubh/gifts).



> Title from 'Persephone' by Third Eye Blind

1.  Table of Contents

2.  'Olympic Competitors Turned Lovers' for uconnhuskiesfan_wintershockship

3.  'Secret Relationship' for anon

4.   ***** 'Persephone' for seekingsquake

5.  'That Thing You Do' for anon

6.  'Save Yourself' for TallyDubh

7.  'For Auld Lang Syne, my dear' for seekingsquake

8.  'All My Loving' for anon


	2. 'Olympic Competitors Turned Lovers' for uconnhuskiesfan_wintershockship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU Prompts 2016
> 
> No Powers, Athletes

“You know, I was right…” Betty said with a smirk, reaching down over the edge of the bed and picking up Bruce’s silver medal off the floor. “This DOES look better on my bedroom floor than it does on you…”  

Bruce chuckled and rolled over to grab it from her.  “You could have taken yours off, it kept hitting me in the teeth.”  

“Tell me that if you had won gold, you wouldn’t have kept yours on.”  

“I’d have tried.  But you seemed pretty invested in getting me naked…”  

 


	3. 'Secret relationship' for anon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trope Prompts 2016
> 
> Secret Relationship

Doing this in secret wasn’t anything new for them.  But Bruce really had hoped that at least in middle age, he’d stop having to sneak around with his girlfriend. 

He grimaced at the thought of the lengths they had to go to in order to see each other.  He unlocked the door to his apartment and promptly had to pick his jaw up off the floor.  

“Hello,” he said, taking in the lovely image that was Betty in a little red something that was more gone than there.  His couch had honestly never looked so inviting.  “When did you get here?”  

“About an hour ago…been waiting for a while…”  

He shut the door behind him, locking it.  “Guess I need to play catch up, then…”  

Okay.  So some things were still a lot of fun.   

 


	4. *"Persephone' for seekingsquake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song Prompts 2016
> 
> Song is 'Persephone' by Third Eye Blind.
> 
> Non-Explicit Sex, Implied Sexual Content, Bittersweet

Bruce couldn’t help but think that this was wrong.  

Betty had moved on. He had no right to do this.  To feel this again.  

Her hands slid up his chest and the back of his head, into his hair. And he couldn’t be moved to care.  Her lips on his felt so good that he couldn’t think of the fallout.  He couldn’t.  He had to be selfish, just this once.  Because there was no way he could reign himself in when it came to Betty.  

“I love you…” he whispered, gasping when her teeth grazed his skin when she sucked a bruise onto his neck.  “I love you.”

Her blue eyes swallowed him, lulling him into a warmth that he hadn’t felt in so long.  

Their clothes simply melted away, falling in piles around the hotel room he was staying in.  They fell on the bed and fell back together as no time had passed.  

His fingers remembered just where to touch and how.  Stored in his mind like vital information.  Because it was vital that he could make her look at him like that. Vital that she moan his name like she was now.  Vital that he could make her fall apart around him.  Back arched, nails digging into his skin as her legs pulled him deeper.

Pressing his forehead to hers as he tried to calm his beating heart.  Tried to silence the bad thoughts.  The thoughts that told him he’d marked her somehow.  Ruined her.  Taken something beautiful and tainted it.

He was cursed.  He was nothing but a disaster.  He RUINED.  

Her voice brought him back from the darkness.  A light he could follow.  A hand he could clasp.  The warmth he could lose himself in.  Lose all of himself.  The bad, the good.  He could just…exist and be here with Betty and as long as he was, everything was okay.

It wouldn’t last.  She’d have to go back to her life.  He’d have to go back to the shadows.

But for now…for now, they were together.  

“I love you, Bruce…” she whispered.  “I love you.”

 


	5. 'That Thing You Do' for anon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song Prompts 2016
> 
> Song is 'That Thing You Do' by the Wonders.
> 
> Misunderstandings, Idiots in Love

It was a small thing really.

But it caused Bruce endless frustration.  

Betty had the tendency to bite her bottom lip when she was deep in thought.  A peek of white teeth against her pink lip.  The way it reddened when she released it.  

And when she did it whenever she was thinking.  

Which meant that Bruce wasn’t thinking when Betty was thinking.  

At least, they weren’t thinking about the same things.  Probably not.

No, definitely not.  

Not when she had lunch with some guy every single day.

She didn’t talk much about her personal life, but Friday would inform her whenever he arrived. And she’d wave and leave whatever it was she was doing there on the counter, flouncing off with that perfectly bitten bottom lip and the rest of her too.  

It was becoming ridiculous. He was attaching years of sexual frustration and tension onto one extremely small part of her body and he was fairly certain that it was borderline fetishism at this point.  

So, it was inevitable that he’d make an ass of himself.  

A spectacular ass of himself.  

She was standing close to him, sharing a microscope.  Smelling wonderful and looking beautiful.  And leaning back, and biting that lip…Jesus, he couldn’t focus.  

He inhaled sharply.  “Could you stop that please?”  

She frowned, turning towards him.  “Stop what?”

“Biting your lip.”  

“Is it…bothering you?”

_You could say that…_

“It’s…distracting.”  

She crossed her arms, “Distracting how?”  

“It makes me want to bite it for you…” he blurted loudly, clapping his hand over his mouth as soon as he said it.  Wishing he could take the words back.  

She arched an eyebrow and Bruce prepared for a dressing down of epic proportions.  Well-deserved.  

Instead, she ran her tongue over her top teeth and very deliberately bit down on her bottom lip, tugging it back out again, leaving it red and swollen in the wake of her teeth. “Go ahead…”  

His eyes shifted from her mouth, back up to her eyes, to her mouth again.  “Wait…what about…your lunch date?”  

“Bruce…he’s just a friend…” she almost laughed, but didn’t.  Sensing the seriousness of the moment.  

“I thought you were dating him.”  

“I was waiting for you!” she insisted, reaching for his hand.  

_?!_

“I didn’t know that!”

“I thought maybe you couldn’t…you know…like…you know…” she shrugged vaguely, but the innuendo was clear. “So you just didn’t…”  

“Oh no…I can do THAT now!”

“You can?”  

“Yes…through a variety of breathing exercises, I can regulate my heartrate and—mphhh…” he wasn’t able to finish the sentence because she had launched herself at him. Pushing him back against the counter.  Her beautiful lips pulling at his, her hands roving all over him greedily.  “Here?” he asked, pulling off his skewed glasses between kisses.  Between reveling in the fact that he was going to get to touch her again.  Hold her again.  Love her again…well…love her and have her know it.  

“Yes…here…”  

 


	6. 'Save Yourself' for TallyDubh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song Prompts 2016
> 
> Song is 'Save Yourself' by My Darkest Day
> 
> Angst

It was going to kill him.

His world was so dark before she came back into it, a golden light in the dark cave that was his life. Everything hurt, but her touch soothed even the deepest aches…made him feel better than he deserved to feel. She was wasting her light on him. And he was leeching it from her, he’d only leave her empty and alone.  It was better this way.  

Bruce set his jaw as his nostrils flared, eyes watering steadily.  All mechanisms to keep from sobbing as loudly as Betty was.  To keep from reaching for her, because if he wrapped his arms around her now, he might never let go.  He might drag her down with him.  Down deep below the bedrock where shame resided.  He was so far down; he’d be even more of a monster if he DIDN’T leave her.  

“Why, what did I do wrong?” she sniffled, wiping at her eyes and staring into his imploringly.  Her mascara was running and staining the edges of her cardigan sleeves.  Black streaks on lavender cashmere.  It was probably ruined.  

Ruined, like she would be if he stayed.

“Nothing, Betty.  You did nothing wrong.  I just…I can’t ask you to…”  

“You’re not asking me for anything, Bruce.  I’m giving it.  No questions asked.”  

“I know, but—“  

“Please.  Don’t do this again.  I can’t keep doing this…” she pleaded.  Her hands reached for him, wrapping around his arm.  “I can’t keep losing you.”  

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”  

“I won’t…”  

“You don’t know that…” he argued gently.  “The only way to know for sure is for me to leave.”  

She shook her head.  “NO…Bruce…no…” she clutched at his arm and it physically pained him to tug it off.  The place she touched him felt warm.  And he wanted to cherish it for as long as he could.  

“I’m sorry…” he whispered, his throat felt raw and painful.  He’d cry later.  When he was alone.  Really alone. “I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”

“That’s just not true…” she sniffled.  “You’re everything, Bruce. I love you.  I love you.”

“I love you, Betty.”  

“Please don’t go…” she whispered.  “Please.”

He wanted to curl up in her arms forever.  

“I can’t…”  he whispered, turning to go, a sob choking him as he heard her start to weep again, pleading with him to stay.  

He was outside, his bag slung over his shoulder as he reached the gate, his hand poised on the lock.  _Flip it up and go.  Lock it back behind you._   He turned and looked back at the house.  

He shouldn’t have.  He should have just gone.  

His hand dropped to his side and he turned back towards the house, walking back up to the door and opening it. Dropping his bag on the floor as he crossed the floor towards his weeping love.  Shushing her, apologizing.  Promising never to leave her side again.  Kissing her lips, her face wet with tears. His and hers.  Mixed.  Her hands in his hair, his head dropping to her lap as she comforted him.  Stilled his shaking shoulders, calmed his quivering frame, dried his tears.  

And he took from her the comfort he didn’t deserve.    

He should have just gone.    

 


	7. 'For Auld Lang Syne, My Dear' for seekingsquake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Year's Eve Prompts 2015
> 
> Established Relationship, Long-Distance Relationship, Reunited and it feels so good, Post Avengers: Age of Ultron, Canon Divergence

Betty turned off the T.V. She couldn’t exactly get into the New Year’s festivities.  Not with Bruce missing.  

At least before, even though they weren’t together.  She could rest easy knowing where he was.  That he was in New York, around people who cared about him.  

She’d watched in rapt attention the television coverage of the Battle for New York.  She’d watched over and over as the Avengers saved the planet both from itself and outside enemies.  She’d seen the video of the Black Widow singing the Hulk a lullaby. That…that had hurt a little bit. But, she was glad he had found a way to control himself.  Somewhat. She knew it was important to him.  

When he’d left her in Harlem all those years ago, he’d taken a piece of her with him.  And even though it hurt, she was loathe to let it go completely.  

Her friends had all told her to move on.  That it should have been a clear signal when he came out of hiding and didn’t even call her. Didn’t even send her an email.  He was cutting ties with his old life, and that included her.  

And then…he’d started sending her things.  Postcards. Letters. Flowers on her birthday. All handwritten and no return address, never signing his name to them…but she’d recognize his chicken scratch anywhere.  

He never talked about anything in particular.  Just little snippets of his day.  Times when he thought about her.  Sometimes she got multiple letters a day, sometimes none for a long time.  And it was just letters.  Never a call, never a visit.

She still had all her memories.  And that was what she wrapped around herself to feel better on the nights where she didn’t think she could possibly miss him more.  

Missed that quirky little smile, his sharp sense of humor, the soft touch of his hand.  

And then…Sokovia happened. Wakanda happened.  And she wept for him more than ever as she watched the Hulk level an entire city, knowing that Bruce was as powerless as she was to stop it.  

And he’d gone missing. Her father was on the war path. She’d moved a dozen times to escape the security detail he’d stationed around her home.  Until she’d ended up here.  In a small, one room cabin in Nova Scotia.  Under an assumed name that an old friend had helped her procure.  

No one could find her.  Not even the U.S government.  

And she thought…not even Bruce.  

But then that postcard came. Postmarked in Fiji.  Addressed, not to Betty Ross, but to her assumed name. It seemed her old friend had been in touch.  There had only been one.  But it had given her hope.  Hope that she might see him again.  

She got up from her couch, crossing the floor to the kitchen area, deciding that a cup of tea was in order.

She put the kettle on and pulled a mug out of the cabinet.  The kettle whistled, she poured the water, let it steep a few minutes before pulling the bag out and stirring in sugar.  

Everything had become a mechanical process, and she thought seriously about finding a job in the town where she was living.  She had no credentials anymore, but perhaps there was something she could do.  Even if it was waiting tables, it would break the monotony.  

The branch outside the kitchen window scratched at the screen, making her jump a little.  It wasn’t all that windy tonight.  She told herself it was an animal.  It happened again, so she peered out the window into darkness, shutting off her kitchen light to get a better view.  

It was then that she saw the shadow.  Suspiciously shaped like a man.  Her heart beat rapidly.  They’d found her.  Tears pricked at her eyes when she realized she wasn’t ever going to escape the grasp of her father.  All in the name of her “best interests”, of course.  

She watched the shadow creep, unlike the SHIELD agents and military ops he’d sent after her in the past. It crept…differently.  Not like it was closing in, like it was…observing.  

Her heart leapt into her chest.   _Could it be?  Please let it be him._

She dropped her tea cup, running for the front door.  She unlocked the series of locks she had on it, running barefoot outside into the bitterly cold Canadian winter.  She strained her eyes looking into the trees, the shadows.  

“Betty?”

Her breath caught in her throat as she turned slowly to her left, her eyes adjusting to the darkness as she took in the familiar, yet strangely, unfamiliar form in front of her.

“Bruce?”  

He inhaled sharply, nodding.

She tried to will herself to walk towards him, but her legs had stopped working.  He closed the distance for her, pulling her back into her house and closing the door before wrapping his arms around her tightly.  

She clung to him, inhaling his familiar scent that mingled with the smell of the outdoors.  He had a beard now.  His hair needed a trim.  He was too thin.  But he was here.  

“Betty…” he whispered, pulling back from her for a moment, his dark brown eyes scanning her face.  “Betty, I’m so sorry…”  

She shook her head.  “Don’t…”  

“No…you had to…I didn’t want this for you…”  

She smirked faintly.  “Don’t you know me well enough by now to know that I don’t like it when men tell me what they want for me?”  

“No, I know…believe me, I know…” he smiled, reaching out tentatively to stroke her face.  “I know I don’t deserve to even…ask this.  To even consider it, but…can I…can I kiss you?”

She smiled, leaning closer to him.  “You’d better.”  

And she sighed when his lips touched hers, and he tugged her closer, her hands gripped his shoulders for support.  The only sounds were the breathy sighs from her and his whispered promises to never leave her for this long again…and the clock on her wall striking midnight.  

“Happy New Year, Bruce…” she murmured, kissing him again.  

“Happy New Year…” he mumbled in reply. 

 


	8. 'All My Loving' for anon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beatles Prompts 2016
> 
> Song is "All My Loving'
> 
> Angst

Bruce didn’t want to leave it like this.  

He’d had a plan for once. He was going to say goodbye to Betty tonight, spend one last night with her and leave in the morning,  

But, like all of his plans, it didn’t work out. Someone saw him.  Tipped off someone else.  And now he had five minutes.  

He threw clothes into a bag as Betty dumped the contents of a box of granola bars inside as well.  He abandoned the bag and slipped his arms around her waist, pressing his lips to hers hurriedly, harshly…not in the way she deserved at all.  

“I’m so sorry…I didn’t want to do this again…”  

She kissed him back, tears wetting her cheeks and he wasn’t sure if they were hers or his.  “Come back to me.”  Not a demand, a wish.    

“I will,” he promised. “I will.”

“Don’t forget me this time, either…” she half laughed, half sobbed, kissing him again before reluctantly breaking it off to continue packing his bag.  

“I’ll be in touch, Betty. I promise.  Don’t give up on me.”  

She shook her head.  “Never.”  

After one final kiss and embrace, he slipped out the back door, chancing a look back to the house, spying her standing there in the window.  

And he wanted so badly to run back to her.  To take her with him.  Somehow figure out a way to be together.  Not because he thought she needed him.  No, quite the opposite.  His thoughts and desires were selfish.  And he knew it.  So he waved once and ran into the woods.  

 


End file.
